KRN-211 · Linux Kernel Core · Advanced
CPU Isolation & Affinity — full syllabus
Taking CPUs away from the kernel for latency-critical work: isolcpus, nohz_full, RCU offload and the gotchas.
Who this course is for
Engineers building latency-critical systems — trading, telecom, industrial control — who need CPUs genuinely free of kernel interference, and proof rather than hope.
Prerequisites
- KRN-201-level scheduling knowledge
- Linux administration
- A multicore test machine or VM
Course outline
Day 1 — The isolation toolbox
- isolcpus (domain and managed_irq variants), nohz_full and rcu_nocbs — why they must be combined
- Housekeeping CPUs and what legitimately still runs there
- IRQ affinity: /proc/irq/*/smp_affinity and irqbalance policy
- Kernel thread and workqueue placement
- taskset and cpuset-based shields
Day 2 — Proof and pitfalls
- Verifying isolation actually happened: which ticks, interrupts and RCU callbacks remain
- Measuring jitter with cyclictest-style latency histograms
- Interaction with containers and cgroup cpusets
- Managed interrupts and their placement constraints
- The common misconfigurations that silently undo isolation
Hands-on labs
- Lab: configure isolcpus/nohz_full/rcu_nocbs on a test machine and enumerate everything that still runs on the isolated cores
- Lab: steer IRQs away from hot CPUs and prove the result in /proc/interrupts
- Lab: measure jitter on an isolated vs a non-isolated CPU with latency histograms and explain the difference
- Lab: reconcile isolation with a container runtime through cpusets and find where the runtime re-adds interference
Capstone project
Produce a verified isolation configuration for a stated latency target: boot parameters plus affinity configuration, an audit of every remaining interference source on the isolated CPUs, jitter histograms before and after, and a re-validation checklist to run after any kernel or container-runtime change.
What you leave with
- A correct isolation recipe — the three knobs together, not one
- IRQ and kthread steering practice
- Jitter measurement you can rerun after any system change
- Container and cpuset integration patterns that do not leak interference
Upcoming dates
| Dates | Where | Seats | Early bird | Regular | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Oct – 26 Oct 20262 full days | RiyadhIn person · KAFD Conference Centre | 5 of 14 | — | SAR 6,000 | |
| 25 Oct – 26 Oct 20262 full days | Kuwait CityIn person · Al Hamra Tower | 10 of 14 | — | KWD 500 | |
| 1 Nov – 2 Nov 20262 full days | MuscatIn person · Knowledge Oasis Muscat | 5 of 14 | — | OMR 620 | |
| 8 Nov – 11 Nov 20264 half-days | Gulf bandLive online · 09:00–13:00 GMT+3 | 15 of 20 | US$1,040until 9 Oct | ||
| 9 Nov – 10 Nov 20262 full days | OttawaIn person · Kanata North Tech Park | 10 of 14 | CAD 1,960until 10 Oct | ||
| 9 Nov – 10 Nov 20262 full days | TorontoIn person · MaRS Discovery District | 5 of 14 | CAD 1,960until 10 Oct | ||
| 9 Nov – 12 Nov 20264 half-days | Europe bandLive online · 09:00–13:00 CET | 4 of 20 | US$1,040until 10 Oct | ||
| 16 Nov – 17 Nov 20262 full days | LondonIn person · Shoreditch Works | 10 of 14 | GBP 1,120until 17 Oct | ||
| 16 Nov – 19 Nov 20264 half-days | Americas bandLive online · 13:00–17:00 ET | 9 of 20 | US$1,040until 17 Oct | ||
| 23 Nov – 24 Nov 20262 full days | BerlinIn person · Factory Görlitzer Park | 5 of 14 | EUR 1,320until 24 Oct |
Book a seat, or bring this course to your team
Seats can be reserved online; private delivery runs on-site or live online, adapted to your stack.
Questions about fit or prerequisites? Email hello@kernelsystems.academy. To save this syllabus, print this page to PDF from your browser.